Cellular concrete machine



Aug. 1l, 1931. H. E. BRooKBY ET AL.

'CELLULAR CONCRETE MACHINE Filed 'June 1e, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet l .5a/ffy jfzf (Wy 34u47 Wl Aug |11, 1931: H. E. BRooKBY ETAI. 1,818,376

4 CELLULAR CONCRETE MACHINE Filed June 16, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. ll, 1931. H. E. BRooKBY E'r AL CELLULAR CONCRETE MACHINE l Filed June 16, 1927 25 Sheets-Sheet 5 Aals Patented Aug. 11, 1931 UNITED STATI-:s

' PATENT OFFICE L HARRY E. BROOKBY, F EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, AND FRED J'. GOlJ'GrIaly OF FORT DODGE,

IOWA, ASSIG-NORS T0 UNITED STATES GYPSUM A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,-

CELLULAR CONCRETE MACHINE Application led .Tune 16,

Our invention relates to mixing machines and more particularly to machines for producing cellular cementitious products.

One of the objects of-'this invention is to provide a simple, practical and efficient machine of the character described.

Another object of this invention is to provide a continuous process machine for producing a cellular concrete or similarproduCt. i n A Other objectssand advantages willappear and be brought out more fully in the following specification and drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan' view of an embodiment of this invention.

n Fig. 2 is a side View of the same, and

Fig. 3 is an end view of the same.

In the manufacture of plastic and cementitious building materials, it is desirable to produce a product which is light in weight, fire resistant, and structurally strong. Such a material cankbe produced by the herein described invention, by the novel method of forming voids in the plastic or cementitious g5 material. This is advantageously accomplished by first producing a foam from aP suitable foaming liquid by whipping or beating and then mixing the foam with the structural material `while in the plastic stage.

In this invention the salient featurescomprise a foam liquid storage tank,`a water storage tank, gauging tanks for the same, a foam whipper, a mixing chamber, means forv discharging the foam from fthe Vwhipper to the mixer and suitable 'driving means for the operating parts. v

Referring moreparticularly to the' draw-` ings, a Vframe 1 ispprovided'with any suitable v mounting means, such as wheels 2, and sup- 4.o ports an auxiliary frame 3 .and brackets 4. "l vFrame 3 supports the foam yliquid tankv5, andI a'kwater supply tank 6, land carries, by

suspension, va Vfoam gauging tank 7. Within i, the space enclosed by frame 3 and supported on main frame 1, is mounted the foam whipping tank 8 and blower 9. At oneE end fof frame 1 and mounted von'bracket 4 is the rotary Amixing tank 10, and at. theopposite end of the mainframe is "drivingmotor 11.v

Motor 1l actuates Vdriveshaft` 12 by belt 13.

1927. Serial No. 199,149.

and pulley 14. Shaft 12 is provided with clutches 15, 16 and 17 and timing gears ,18.

Gauging tank 7, is connected to foam liquid tank 5 by pipe sections 19, 20 and 21. At the junction of pipes 19 and 20 is located a float valve 22 operated'by float 23 in gauging tank 7. At the junction of pipes 2O and 21 is a three-way valve 24 from which leads a 4pipe 25l to the foam whipper 8. An air pressure release valve 26 is mounted at the top of the foam whipper tank 8 and may be connected by any suitable link mechanism 27 with the three-way valve 24. Foam whipping tank 8 is provided with central bearings 28 which carry a rotary shaft 29, which shaft in turn is provided with a number of beating elements 30, yas can be seen most Vreadily in Figure 3.

Brackets 4, carry bearings 31 and 31A, which in `turn support frame 32, at the outer end of which arebearings 33, which provide a mounting for the rotary-mixing chamber 10. Bearing .3l-A supports hollow shaft 34 which in turn carries shaft 35, the latter having a pulley 36 secured at one end and a bevel gear 37 secured to the other end. Pul. ley 36 and shaft 35 are driven from main shaft-1 2 by a belt 38 through clutch 17. Mixing chamber 10fis rotatable by ring gear 39 which is integrally associated with it and which meshes vwith bevel gear 38. The inner hub 40 of mixingl chamber l10 is hollow toadmit the insertiony of. .water pipek 41y and foam pipe42. The vdischarge of foam from the whipper to the mixer vis efected'by pipe 43, valve 44and cupjoint 45 which connects withfoam pipeI 42.` Foa-m'v is' dischargedl fromv the whipper through the actionv of'- blower 9, which is* piped `-to the whipper :by pipe 47, having la quick opening valve`48 and 90 connected to theside-o'f the whippertankf8. Blower 9 is :actuated from shaft 12 by belt 46gan`d'c`lutch 15. ffWhippcr shaft 29 is actuatedV fromv main shaft -123by1jbelt 49 through clutchl and timinggea-rs 1:8. Glutchl'is \95 arranged .to lbe ldisengaged througlrthe"'oper-1y ationlof timing gears 18 at a predetermined I; time interval. It will; be understood that,r clutches v15,y 1`6-and'17 can'be operated by J handmeans, any suitable mechanism for dogoo ing this being satisfactory. Clutch 16, however, may also be disengaged by" timing gears 18. l,

Mixer 10 may be of any commercial Variety suitable for the purpose and will not be described further in detail. The plastic or cementitious'material maybe introduced at the open end 50,'whereas, the foam, as be fore mentioned, and the water, are introduced at the opposite end 51. Vater tank 6 is supplied and filledv to a predetermined vlevel from a source of supply through pipe 52 controlled by float valve 58, and three-- Way valve 54. l rlhe side opening of valve 54 connects through pipe 55' with the bottom of tank 6, and pipe 56 leads from valve 54 to the mixer 10, through a liexible connection 57. To facilitate the dumping of the contents of mixer 10, a hand lever 5-9 is provided and is secured to the shaft supporting frame 32.

For the most advantageous use of this in vention, it has been found practicable to keep the proportions of the ingredients constant or nearly so for any given run. For this reason e the foam gauging tank and the Water tank y right and this operation permits the water to iow from tank 6 into the mixing chamber 10 through pipe 56.`

` The aggregate materials Vcomprising eement and finely divided sand are next introduced into the mixer lrthrough opening 50 and these with the water are given a prelimi#r nary period of mixing. This mixing is effectedfthrough the rotation of mixer'lO, operated by gear 37, belt 38 and clutch 17 on shaft12 Foam liquid tank is supplied with a quan- 'tityof saponaceous material, the mixture consisting of resin-soap and glue having been' y found to be satisfactory. The prpperhsetting of valve 24 will permit a quantiy of thisl foam liquid to -be takenof through pipe 19, float `valve 22 and pipes 20 and 21. This will permit gauging tank 7 to be filled to a predetermined level at which. time valve 22 willbe closed. Valve 24 is then turned a quarter turnP to the left, in which position the supply-from pipe 20 is shut olf andthe passage is opened between pipes 21'and 25. valve 24 through `link 27, opens valve 26 to the atmosphere and vpermits the release of the air inwthe whipper tank 8 when the foam liquid enters said'tan-k from-*pipe 25. During this charging operation, valves 48 and -44 This operation of are closed. After the foam liquid vhas runout from tank 7 to whipper 8, valves 24 and 26 are turned a quarter' turn to the right which closes tank 8 to the atmosphere and opens the passage between tanks 5 and 7, and

permits vtank 7' to be filled again to the redetermined levelby float Valve 22. Thew ipper beating element is then actuated through the'engagement of clutch 16, which changes the foam liquid into a light, strong foam. This whipping occupies a definite time period; for example, -two minutes has been found satisfactory, at the end of which time clutch 16 is disengaged through the operation of timing gears 18.' When the foam whipping is complete clutch 15 is engaged which starts the operation of blower 9, and valves 48 and 44 are-open andthe foam is thereby blown Y is there mixed with the water, sand and cement which have been'previously mixed, as before mentioned, with the result that alight, foai'ny, cellular concrete is produced.

lVhile this latter mixing is taking place, another supply of foam liquid can be introduced into the whipper and the foam beating process again started.4 While the foam whipping process is being carried oiitlie completed ccmentitious mixturecan be dumped from 'the mixer `1() by the operation of handle 58 from the wliipper tank 8 into the mixer 10. It

and a fresh supply `of cement and sand can bc introduced as before. To facilitate the dumping operation, the Water connection to mixer 10 -is made through a flexible hose 57, and the foam discharge connection to pipes-42 andy 43 is effected by a cup joint 45, which breaks apart when the mixer 10 uis dumped. While the mixing is taking place in mixer 10 a new supply of foam liquid can be introduced into the whip-per and the Whipping operation repeated. During thewhipping operation, the l mixing can be completed, the mixture dumpedand a new supply of aggregate put in' the mixer and the preliminary mixing operation started. It will thus be apparent that a'simple, practical and efficient machine is provided forproducing by, 'a continuous process, a light, strong cellular cementitious product. The production of the concrete is thus seen to be continuous, a steady supply being produced,^ whereby any quantity of ma- Iterial is available for any size or quantity of work desired.

While a preferred form `of this invention has been shown and described, it will be understood that changs and modifications spirit of the invention.

What we cvlaim is:

'1. In fa machine of the class' described, the.

combination of foam whipping means, mixing means in driving operative relation with said whipping means for mixing'said foam with a cementitious material and means for vmay be made without departing from the v blowing the foam from said whipping means to said mixing means.

2. In a machine of the class described a foam whi per adapted to Whip a foam so ution into fldam, a mixer for mixing foam with cementitious material, means for transferrin foam from said whipper to said mixer, an power means operatively connected with and adapted to actuate said Whipper and mixer simultaneously and independently.

3. In a machine ofthe class described, a.

` whipper for producing foam, a rotary mixer in tilting, operative yrelation with said Whipper and adapted to mix said foam with a cementitious material, means for transferring foam from said whipper to said1 mixer.

4. In a concretemachine, a Whipper for producing foam, and a rotary mixer adapted to periodically tilt and make connection with said Whipper to receive a charge of foam, said mixer being arranged to mix said foam V.with a cementitious material.

5. In a concrete machine, a whipper for producing foam, said whipper having a port, and a mixer for mixing said foam with a cementitious material, said mixer being arranged to periodically tilt into Contact with said port to receive a charge of'foam.

6. In a concrete machine, a foam whipper for whipping foam solution into foam, an' air compressor, a mixer for mixing foam )with a cementitious material, said mixer being detachably. connected to said whipper, and power means common to and adapted to actuate said Whipper, compressor and mixer.

7 .y In a concrete machine, the combination with a portable framework, of a. whip er for producing foam, and a tilting mixer 1n tilting relation to saidi whipper, said whipper and mixer being supported Vbyy Said framework so that said mixer alternately tilts into fluid receiving contact with said whipper and then into material discharging position.

8. In a concrete machine, a'whipper for producing foam, a foam solution container arranged above said whipper and connected therewith by a pipe, means for introducing compressed air into said whipper, and an air release valve associated with said whipper to reduce the air pressure in said whipper to a point where fluid will ow from said container into said whipper.

HARRY E. BROOKBY. FRED J. GOUGH. 

